Fixtures Announced

[RogerMilla]

i will go to montenegro , sofia and the italian game

[AidoM]

Hope to do the full suite but the first 2 aren't going to make it easy particularly as a double header :eek:. Might be easier to travel to both seperately :confused:

[carloz]

i gotta be honest, Im very happy with that. Im sick and tired of playing the big boys away first and generally getting nothing. From Georgia and Montenegro away we really should expecting 4, if not 6 points, whoever the manager is. Then Cyprus and Georgia at home should be a given 6 points(it really should be even if Scotland got is worried about Georgian and Stan got us worried about Cyprus). Then for a change we will be in a great position going into the 3 massive massive games home and away to Bulgaria and away to italy. The finish is similar to 2002. Italy will probably be a must win game, as the Dutch one was that time, and montenegro will be the finisher that we should win as Cyrpus was that time

[lionelhutz]

Balls. I'd have rathered they'd an easier ride first time out.

I'd assume its gr8 theyre playing Bulgaria before us. They'll have given everything against Bulgaria and therefore might be shattered and dejected when they play us....especially after their first ever competitive game

[Stuttgart88]

i Italy will probably be a must win game, as the Dutch one was that time, a draw would have done I think.

[Blue-Army]

We'll need at least 13 points from the first 5 games to have any chance...

[carloz]

I fully expected Delaney to go for the old 'lets play Italy away after the Euros, we will catch them rusty then'. it has worked once for us and shouldnt be tried again for quite a while. Delaney deserves credit for this. Plus the first 2 matches should give us a chance to put our away day jinx to bed hopefully

[gspain]

Another key factor is playing Italy at home late and after they are finished with Bulgaria.

They will be trying to win when they play Bulgaria home and away. They may well have the group won by the time thay come to Dublin and will be more beatable. The Italians normally just get what they need and may well be happy with a draw in Dublin.

We still need to do the business in the other games but any points Bulgaria get v Italy will be earned the ahrd way. Let's just say I'm gald they are not going to Sofia late on. .

[Kingdom]

You often hear the cliché "every game is a cup final", and I've no doubt its very applicable from the start of this group here.
To win the group or to come 2nd, drawing the away games will not be enough. If we compare ourselves with Bulgaria who we likely are competing against for 2nd spot), then I'd fancy our start to theirs. I'm glad they have Montengro first, as its the worst possible fixture to have started with I believe. Regardless of the result they get against Bulgaria, we should be going there looking to win the game. If that isn't the expectation then we don't deserve to be thinking about qualifying.

Given we had to play at least once out of the first two dates away from home, Georgia is probably the best we could have hoped for. Cannot believe it is paired with Montenegro though. Absolutely horrible trip for someone like myself who would try and organise myself on a tight enough budget.

[DmanDmythDledge]

Pretty good set of fixtures overall, good to finish with two home games and a good chance that we could be doing very well by the time we meet Bulgaria and Italy which would be good for momentum.

[John83]

it actually annoys me that were it not for the GAA then ALL of the fixtures would be away from home yet some still find it in their narrow minds to keep poking fun at them.......

ANNNNNNNNNNNNNYYYYYWAAAAAYYYYYYYYYY
Agreed. We should reward them with millions of euro in rent.

[galwayhoop]

Agreed. We should reward them with millions of euro in rent.

what can i say ... capitalism!!!!

[shakermaker1982]

they are hardly gonna give Croke Park away for free!!!

[Lionel Ritchie]

what can i say ... capitalism!!!!

...a warped version thereof though. The GAA are getting above market value for the use of their less than ideal facility on terms that are less than ideal to us and with more strings attached than the cast of thunderbirds.

If these games had been put out to tender we'd be playing this campaign and the last in London, Liverpool, Manchester and Glasgow ...and I for one would call it a good thing.

[DotTV]

How would it be a good thing to have the national team of Ireland play their home games outside the country?

[green army]

think john delaney did a decent job. starting with the 2 "easier" teams in the group gives us a great chance of hitting the ground running. I think that the already know who the manager is and he was consulted on teh timing of the games.

[Sonic]

The three away games in a row look ugly!!!!!!!!!!!!:(:(:(

[ifk101]

I think the fixtures are fine. Obviously the June fixture is something that would have been nice to avoid but as third seeds there's only so much that you can dictate.

On the Croke Park issue, would the RDS and Thomond Park be viable options now for the "smaller" fixtures?

[elroy]

I think the fixtures are fine. Obviously the June fixture is something that would have been nice to avoid but as third seeds there's only so much that you can dictate.

On the Croke Park issue, would the RDS and Thomond Park be viable options now for the "smaller" fixtures?

What games would we have that we'd only get attendances in the region of 25k?? Even friendlies we managed at least 30k in LR. So dont think either venue is a runner.



think john delaney did a decent job. starting with the 2 "easier" teams in the group gives us a great chance of hitting the ground running. I think that the already know who the manager is and he was consulted on teh timing of the games.

Dont think so, cant see what positives there would be for the FAI if they know the new manager already and not having released details of it yet.

[tetsujin1979]

Game by game description in today's Indo: http://www.independent.ie/sport/soccer/game-by-game-guide-1266969.html

[Stuttgart88]

A drunken post by Geysir after JJ O'Toole's late winner against the Bulgarian U21s in Athlone springs to mind:

Can't beat them Bulgarians often enough.

Bring 'em on!

Whatever about the "Ray Houghton Way" street sign brought to Stuttgart, we should do something similar for Gary McKay in Sofia. Bring the lad over for good luck.

[gspain]

A drunken post by Geysir after JJ O'Toole's late winner against the Bulgarian U21s in Athlone springs to mind:

Can't beat them Bulgarians often enough.

Bring 'em on!

Whatever about the "Ray Houghton Way" street sign brought to Stuttgart, we should do something similar for Gary McKay in Sofia. Bring the lad over for good luck.

We could start by getting his name right.

It's Gary Mackay.

[lionelhutz]

I think the fixtures are fine. Obviously the June fixture is something that would have been nice to avoid but as third seeds there's only so much that you can dictate.

On the Croke Park issue, would the RDS and Thomond Park be viable options now for the "smaller" fixtures?

Never. The Fai are greedy b*****ds who want to get every last cent off the supporters - therefore holding fixtures in grounds of much smaller capacities would make no sense to them

[Stuttgart88]

We could start by getting his name right.

It's Gary Mackay.My God, I've been out-pedanted!

[geysir]

And I was sober.

[Stuttgart88]

Sorry, I just assumed from the tone of the post you were as inebriated as I was.

"At long last, a deserved competitive win made all the sweeter with a last minute bullit header by debutant John Joe O´Toole ( a great name for an Irish grandson). A blessed baptism as an Irish International

We can´t beat them Bulgarians often enough."

[geysir]

I suppose a last minute winner against the Bulgarians can induce a turbo inebriated effect.

[geysir]

The fixtures make the group look tougher than when the draw was made.

We have 3 difficult double headers.

Playing Montenegro after they have played Bulgaria is more than balanced out by us having to play Georgia away in the first game.

A key result will be beating the Bulgarians at home, taking the pressure off a must win away against them, doing what we failed to do against the Czechs.

16 to 18 points is achievable, is it enough?

[shakermaker1982]

IMO Geysir I think 16-18 points would leave us short. I think we need to aim for at least 20 if we are to qualify/get 2nd spot. Obviously if teams keep taking points off each other it might be a low scoring group but then there is a chance 2nd place would not get us (or whoever) into the playoff draw.